This document provides information about litchi, including its botanical classification, origin in South China, nutritional value, production in India and Bihar, varieties, propagation through air layering, cultivation practices, pests and diseases, harvesting, and uses. It details litchi's botanical name, family, chromosome number, edible part, pollination mechanism, growth curve, nutritional content, top producing countries and states, varieties, propagation methods, soil and climate requirements, cultivation techniques, and post-harvest storage and uses.

1. Advance production technology of
litchi
Prepared by-
A. Naga tharun
M. Sc. (Pl. Physiology)
Reg. No. 04-2618-2015

2. LITCHI
 Botanical Name : Litchi chinensis
 Origin : South China
 Order : Sapindales
 Family : Sapindaceae
 Subfamily : Sapindoideae
 Inflorescence : compound raceme
 Chromosome no. : 2n =30
 Edible part : Aril
 Type of pollination : cross pollination
 Mechanism of pollinate o : Insect
 Growth curve : Double sigmoid

3. Plant Description:
HEIGHT- less than 19 m (62 ft)
The bark is grey-black, the branches are
brownish-red
ROOT- shallow rooted
Leaves-compound with leaflets in 2-4 pairs
Flowers -small, yellowish-white
Inflorescence- compound raceme
Fruit type- nut, contain:- aril- 70-86%
peel-8-15%
seed-4-18%
Edible portion- fleshly aril
Pollination system: cross pollinated crop

4. Nutritional value
 Energy : 276 kJ (66 kcal)
 Carbohydrates :16.5 g
 Dietary fiber : 1.3 g
 Vitamin C : 72 mg (87%)
 Fat : 0.4 g
 Protein : 0.8 g
 Calcium : 5 mg (1%)
 Magnesium : 10 mg (3%)
 Phosphorus : 31 mg (4%)

5.  `China` is the biggest producer of litchi in the world.
India rank second in the the world(Area & Production).
In India litchi is grown on large scale in Bihar.
State rank – `Bihar`(area & production)
`West Bengal`(productivity)
AREA & PRODUCTION

6. Litchi growing state

7. State Area
(Ha.)
Production
(MT)
Productivity
(MT/Ha.)
Bihar 27.7 221.7 8.0
West Bengal 5.9 61.4 10.5
Assam 4.1 18.7 4.6
Punjab 1.2 11.6 10.0
Orissa 3.5 10.2 2.9
Tripura 1.7 9.0 5.1
Jharkhand 1.5 7.5 5.0
Uttaranchal 7.8 7.5 1.0
Nagaland 0.8 4.0 5.1
Others 4.0 4.5 -
TOTAL 58.2 356.2 6.1
State-wise Area, Production & Productivity of
Litchi

8. ECOLOGICAL REQUIREMENT
 Litchi is subtropical fruit
 Bearing tree is much affected by HOT
WIND causing fruit cracking
 Alluvial soil with good drainage is
suitable for litchi orchard.
 It can grow in wide range of soils
from light sandy to heavy clay.
SOIL
 The temperature should not
go beyond 40.5 0C in summer
and below freezing point in
winter
TEMPERATURE

9. VARIETIES
EARLY-dehradoon(fruit have an attractive colour),
Early badam (seedless variety) ,
muzzafarpur, shahi
MEDIUM- rose santed, Mclean
LATE- seedless late(late bedana), calcttia, china

10. PROPAGATION
 Through Seed
 Through vegetative.
Litchi seed loses its viability with in 4-5days of its extraction from the fruit.
The trees raised from seeds are very slow to come into bearing and may
take 10-12 years to come to bearing.
 In vegetative propagation technique, litchi can be propagated through
cutting, budding, layering and grafting.
 AIR LAYERING(in the month June-July) is the Commercial method of
propagation.
SEED
VEGETATIVE

11. PROCESS OF AIR LAYERING

12. Details Usual Practice
Planting Time • August – September
• Planting may be done in spring and early summer if irrigation facility is available
Planting Distance • 10×8m.
• Average no. of plants- 200 per ha.
Size of pits • 1x1x1 m (pits are dug a few weeks prior to planting)
Filling of pits • Pits are left undisturbed initially for a period of 15-20 days.
• Filled with top soil mixed with manures and fertilizers @ 20-25 kg FYM, 2 kg
bone meal and 300 g muriate of potash per pit.
Planting • Square system of planting is usually followed.
• A small hole is made at the centre of the pit and the desired material is planted.
Water is applied immediately after planting
Planting

13. Age of the plant
(in years)
Manure/Fertilizer applied (per plant/year in kg)
FYM CAN (Calcium
ammonium
nitrate)
Super phosphate Muriate of potash
1-3 10 - 20 0.3-1.00 0.2-0.6 0.05-0.15
4-6 25 - 40 1.0-2.0 0.75-1.25 0.20-0.30
7-10 40 – 50 2.0-3.0 1.50-2.0 0.35-0.45
Above 10 60 3.5 2.25 0.60

14. Methods- Basin or ring system of irrigation is recommended.
Two irrigations at an interval of 45 – 60 days during winter
is required for bearing litchi trees.
The trees are irrigated from flowering onwards until the
completion of the post-harvest flush.
However, the growers normally irrigate the tree at 7 to 10 days
interval from panicle emergence to fruit harvest or until the post-
harvest flush appears
Irrigation

15. Intercultural Operations
Mulching- The farmyard
manure, compost or straw may
be used for soil mulching.
Cutting down of tall growing
weeds in the orchard and
spreading them over the soil is
another method of mulching
the soil.
Training & Pruning- After
planting, a certain amount of
pruning is often necessary to
give proper shape to the litchi
plant
Once the desired shape is
achieved, no pruning is usually
necessary, except the removal
of dead or diseased branches

16. Weed control
Weeds compete with the trees for water and nutrients.
Mulches used include wheat, barley or rice straw, hay,
sorghum stubble and similar materials.
Reduce costs by growing mulch material between the rows
for later slashing.

17. Maturity index
colour change to deep red
flattened of tubercles
smoothening of epicarp
Stages of maturity

18. Harvesting
 Depending on the tree age there are four
growth phases in litchi plants
 young non-bearing stage (1-3 years),
 young bearing stage (6-10 years),
 junior adult bearing stage (11-20 years)
 senior adult bearing stage (21 years and above).
 Harvesting is usually done in May and June.
 The fruits are harvested in bunches along with a portion of the branch
and a few leaves.

19. 80-150 kg fruits/tree.
Storage temp:- 0 -1 °c with 80-85% RH.
Storage life:- 3-4 weeks.
Grade used in litchi:-extra class, grade-I, grade-II.
Yield and storage

20. s.r no Disease name Causal organism symptom management
1 Fruit fly Bactocera dorsalis 5 gm. trichloroform
with 10 ltrs of water
2 Fruit borer Cryptophlebia illepida fenvolarate @ 0.01%
3 Eriophide mite Acaria litchi Pruning and apply
spinosin.
4 Bark eating caterpillar Inderbella tetragonis Plugging the hole
with formalin
5 Red rust algae Sulphur spray 3
in autumn and
Pests of litchi

21. Physiological disorders of litchi
s.R no Disorder name Causing by symptom management
1 Little leaf Zn deficiency Apply ZnSo4
2 Fruit crack Excess water with high temperature Irrigate properly
3 Chicken tongue Embryo abortion Properly pollinate the
plant
4 Sun burn Direct exposure of sun light Practice of shade
culture

22. Uses of litchi fruit

23. THANK YOU
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REFERENCES:
 Handbook of Horticulture by K. L. Chadha
 Management of Horticultural crops by Singh H. P.
 Fruit crops by T. Radha and Mathew
 Instant Horticulture Edition 11 by S. N. Guptha
 Fruits by Ranjeet singh